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Seoul – Samsung Electronics said on Friday that global sales of its large Galaxy Note II smartphone had topped three million since its debut in late September, as archrival Apple's iPad Mini hit stores.

The South Korean electronics giant said sales of the gadget, sold in some 100 nations, grew far faster than its predecessor and would likely be more than three times those of the Galaxy Note in the first three months after launch.

Samsung, the world's top smartphone maker, sold about two million Galaxy Note phones in the three months after its debut last November.

Galaxy Note II, about 15.1cm and 8cm wide, is slightly bigger than the firm's flagship smartphone Galaxy S series and comes with a stylus to write notes or draw on the screen.

"It means the new product category we pioneered has successfully established itself among global consumers at last," the firm said in a statement, adding sales in the US, Europe and Asia were growing rapidly.

Samsung's rival Apple on Friday launched sales of its new iPad Mini in Asia including South Korea, Japan and Australia, entering the market for mobile devices sized somewhere between smartphones and larger tablet PCs.

The iPad Mini's touch screen measures 20cm diagonally, smaller than the original iPad.

The two tech giants have been embroiled in a long-running patent battle in 10 countries, including the US and Germany, with the pair accusing each other of stealing designs and technology.

In August, Samsung was ordered to pay Apple $1.05bn in damages for illegally copying iPhone and iPad features for its Galaxy S smartphones, but a Japanese court later rejected Apple's claim that Samsung stole its technology.

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